UPDATE 1-Brazil's Rousseff recovers support ahead of October election

BRASILIA, July 2 (Reuters) - Brazilian President Dilma
Rousseff has gained ground among voters after months of
declining support, according to a new poll published on
Wednesday, apparently benefiting from a successful start to the
World Cup.

Support for the leftist president, seeking re-election on
Oct. 5., has risen to 38 percent from 34 percent a month ago,
the survey of eligible voters by Brazilian polling firm
Datafolha said.

Support for her main challenger Aecio Neves has risen one
percentage point to 20 percent from the previous Datafolha poll
in June, while another rival Eduardo Campos advanced two
percentage points to 9 percent, the survey showed.

Rousseff's popularity has been hurt by high inflation in a
stagnant economy and her support had been falling steadily from
47 percent in November, according to Datafolha polls.

But the World Cup has gone more smoothly than expected by
Rousseff's critics, who said the organization of the 32-nation
soccer tournament would be an embarrassing disaster. Anti-World
Cup protests by Brazilians opposed to the expense of hosting the
event have all but fizzled out.

The new poll confirmed, however, that Brazil is heading for
a tough presidential race that will likely go to a second-round
run-off three weeks later.

The poll of 2,857 eligible voters was carried out on Tuesday
and Wednesday and has a margin of error of two percentage points
either way. It was posted on the website of Folha de S.Paulo
newspaper that will publish more results in Thursday editions.
(Reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Nick Macfie)